Professional climber Charles Barrett receives life sentence for sexual assault in Yosemite National Park

US News

From Isabelle Keane

A professional rock climber from California who brutally sexually assaulted a woman in Yosemite National Park was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday, officials said.

The 40-year-old was found guilty in February of two counts of aggravated sexual abuse and one count of abusive sexual contact, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert.

While living and working at the national park in August 2016, Barrett sexually assaulted a woman three times over the course of a weekend, according to court records and evidence presented at trial.

Three other women testified at Barrett’s trial that he also sexually abused them, prosecutors said.

He was not charged with these assaults because they were outside federal jurisdiction, but the victim’s testimony was admitted at trial as relevant to the charges against Barrett.

Talbert said Barrett deserves a life sentence because of his “long history of sexual violence.”

“He used his status as a prominent climber to attack women in the climbing community, and when his victims began to speak out, Barrett responded with public threats and intimidation,” Talbert said. “This case is a testament to the courage of the victims who reported these crimes.”

Court documents also revealed that Barrett intimidated the women he attacked.

In 2017, seven years after the attack on one of the testifying victims, Barrett intentionally showed up at the climbing gym where the victim was climbing.

When the victim asked the gym owner to protect the other women in the gym, Barrett responded by “harassing and threatening her for several years,” according to prosecutors.

After his arrest in 2022, Barrett made hundreds of phone calls showing he felt “no remorse or regret,” prosecutors said.

“Instead, he threatened the victims with violence and revenge, claiming they were plotting to ruin his life.”